The use of mobile phones in the United States and around the world has increased dramatically. It is projected that soon the number of mobile phone users will exceed the number of fixed telephone subscribers. The proliferation of mobile phone usage has engendered corresponding advances in mobile phone technology. Mobile phones can now handle many types of multimedia content. Consumers can navigate the World Wide Web (the “Web”) from their mobile phones to much the same degree as from their home computers. The proliferation of these new multimedia mobile phone devices has accordingly created a ripe market for advertising, which both third-party advertisers and wireless carrier companies have become increasingly interested in.
Technology presently in place for browsing the Web on a mobile phone involves knowledge of the phone's characteristics. For instance, a web server receiving a request from a known mobile phone can deliver content suitable for that particular device, e.g., content adjusted to the screen size and resolution of the device or to the bandwidth of the employed communication network. Not only does this approach require more server-side knowledge than may be easily acquired, but it also precludes the wireless carrier from interjecting ads or content. Moreover, in most implementations, the page-serve transaction does not even identify the carrier, essentially eliminating potential revenue sources for carriers and third-party advertisers who wish to target advertising to their customer bases. This approach also limits a carrier's ability to collaborate with third-party advertisers to provide integrated media and advertising content while a subscriber is surfing the web.